2 babies jumped from house due to heat!

[Guest]

Temps here were 110 today. All the babies are trying to get some relief. 2 of them were pushed out onto the ground from the Goliad, or jumped.

Tonight I found them huddled with each other on the grass, under the house. Since the Goliad is filled with near fledged babies, I dare not lower it.

So I lowered my other house, the Sunset, which is next to the Goliad, and is now empty--all the martins in that house have fledged. I put the two babies in the top nest with meal worms and water. They scampered to the back immediately.

I have no idea if they will attract their parents tomorrow, but at least they are safe for the night. The Sunset has those big wide covered porches they can hang out on tomorrow and chirp. Their parents face in the same direction on the Goliad, so maybe they will see them. Poor babies, I pray for them..

[Guest]

I too am also in Wichita and had the same problem with two jumpers. I have some in my house that are almost ready to fledge however, I lowered the house anyways and put them in a compartment where there were two the same size so that I would be sure they at least got fed. Not to mention I had no clue which compartment they from in the first place. Raised the house back up and halfway through dinner time, they jumped again! Went back out lowered the house again and put them back and firmly told them to stay in there! LOL! Stayed out on the deck until it was almost dark and no more jumping! That firm talking to must have did the trick

Someone with more experience than I will hopefully chime in however, if you put them in another location the adults may not come back to them as they are only familiar with the compartment they built their nest in.

[Guest]

I see them poking their sweet faces out of the nest, but I am sure they are doomed. I have done all that I can.

I lowered my house before when there are pre-fledges in it. I had several fledge early due to that. Since then I do not lower it. At least I know those birds have a better chance of survival.

I guess I take consolation to know they will not die at the hand of a predator. They will succumb to dehydration, most likely.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

There is about a 99% chance that the martins will not feed those babies that you put into the other house. You must return them to their nest, or to a nest where the babies are about the same size. It does no good to put them into an adjacent nest, the parents will only feed those that are in their own nest. Only about 1% of the time (estimated) will they even feed the babies in an adjacent nest.

Its so sad to see them huddled together. The weather in unforgiving, and all creatures really suffer, even dogs or other animals that must be out in such heat, lets hope they find a shade tree. I often tell my wife that our dogs are treated so good living in a house with ac, they must think that they are in heaven....smile

Its hot and dry here too, but under 100 the last few days. But we are bone dry, a little over 7 inches in 5-1/2 months, its like a desert here

[flyin-lowe]

I had a jumper today. I had to put it into a nest with babies about the same age, we will see how it goes.

[rdhd]

I

[John Miller]

I just returned from walking around housing at the Missouri Botanical Garden -- hit 100 today in St. Louis -- hottest day so far -- and I sat in my home office all day wondering if I'd have any martin babies left. Fortunately I did not find any on the ground -- not to say one or two might not have jumped -- but all looked okay looking up at the housing from the ground. Some have fledged, and big fledging should be this weekend. Only 96 degrees predicted for tomorrow and then cooler for a few days.

I'm wondering..100 degrees may be about the limit here for martins before jumping in mass. Weather people said the heat index was 110 to 115. Emil Pampel says they start jumping at 105 index, but I'm thinking maybe 110 to 115, and so right at the limit here today. There also was very light breeze today, which may help evacuate heat. Another factor of course is how many consecutive days of extreme heat.

I swapped out some supergourd lids a few days ago for lids with big 1.5 inch (inside diameter) threaded PVC elbows in them. They look funny, but may help.

John M

[hopeathome]

I am in Mid Missouri and I had 4 jump today, sadly 1 was already dead when I found it the other three were very lively. It's gotten this hot here plenty of times but I've never had any jump before..... not knowing what to do I got on here straight away and saw there had been lot's of jumpers in this weather. I did as one suggested...I had 3 compartments with two each in them and just added one to each. I hope it works.
I have 2 houses (only jumpers from one though) and am a fairly new landlord (6 years). Both houses are aluminum. Will spraying the houses with the hose during the day help? I saw a post mentioning that but I didn't know if mine being aluminum would make it worse?
Thanks for always being here when I am desperate for an answer

[Guest]

Gosh, we are all suffering the same fate with this heat!

My 2 that were rescued last night jumped again today. I found them and 2 others on the ground after work. I was careful and lowered the Goliad a little, very slowly. Using a 14 ft. ladder, I gently stuffed all 4 back into their nest to join the one that was left! Luckily no one else jumped.

Hopefully the parents will feed them and get them ready for their jump tomorrow! It will undoubtedly happen. It is to be another 104 day tomorrow.

Glad to see none of the jumpers had injuries that I could see. They sure ran from me. Soon they will fledge, if they can just last a few more days.

I too wondered about "watering" the houses. I didn't want to spook them out with the action though.

[DebA]

We are just west of Wichita experiencing the same thing. I have five babies in a large compartment of a house. These babies should fledge in about twelve days. I found a couple of them at the entrance last Sunday. I thawed crickets and fed them. They seemed lethargic at first but then got the hang of it. I ice packed the adjacent compartments. I had asked my husband to help rig a water drip but he didn't feel good and didn't want to go out in the heat. Hmmm...not as much as a compassionate nut as I am.

Yesterday I came home for a late lunch and repacked the ice packs. All the babies were in the compartment side with the entrance hole. So I put a pack into the compartment on the other side. On my way back to work I thought, I don't need him and hit the hardware store.

After work I got home and found all five babies had moved onto the ice pack. It was no longer cool but that spoke volumes. Poor things. I started my rigging. Turns out I did need him after all. Thank goodness he came out. I am going to run a light stream on the top of my house. It is just a cheapie S&K but I have found it to be waterproof and vented well (in the past when we aren't 110). I worry about wet nests but know these babies don't stand a chance without trying this. After checking everything seems dry and this house has weathered some severe storms and has never had a leak. When ice packing I cannot believe how hot the top of the house is so this has got to help. Mom and dad are still in the picture and actively feeding. I do believe in the ice packs and the birds don't seem to mind the blue foreign object in the nest. Unfortunately they don't last but a couple of hours.

Last Sunday night my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday (coming up in a few days). Instead of the usual "I don't know" I said I want some sort of mister or drip for my baby martins. That was easy to come up with this year.

Deb

[CHenry]

I had 10 jumpers in all that I know of, 8 of them parished in the heat on the ground while I was at work or gone for the weekend. I found 2 alive and added them to a nest of 3 about the same sife.
Other than the heat, this was a good MArtin year for me, I had a total of 78 birds including babie and parents.
All have fledged now. I hope they find cooler weather in their travels soon.

[Lenora C]

We are in SW Mo, three jumpers yesterday and one so far today. I am reading heat threads for a clue. Ice packs are out the other babies will jump, mister? sprinkler? will the humidity cook the babies?

[Guest]

Great tips on the ice packs. I too want to get a mister set up for next year. It will probably look stupid, but I think I will get it fixed up and ready next spring so I can have it ready in case. That will surely help. Since I keep the house lowered, due to the wind, anyway, I think I will affix it to the top of the house with a dangling hose to be hooked up if needed.

I can't believe these temp extremes, a few years ago I was trying to save them from the early spring freeze, now this! Crazy.

I just put my 7th baby back in the nest over the last two days. I left it at "half mast" per my smart husband, and am using our 14ft ladder to stuff them back in. Sure to be more tomorrow.

It did sprinkle a bit. Cooled down to 92 right now. If they could just survive one more week until fledge!

[Lenora C]

Today is a better day to be a purple martin. We had eleven jumpers yesterday; five dead and six Bill replaced when the afternoon cooled a bit. We live in the city with cats in the area. Sorry to anyone loosing birds. Sue we too are researching.